


Pathway to the Truth

by XrosaryX



Category: Persona 4, Persona Series
Genre: Added more tags later, Alternate Universe - Gender Changes, Canonical Character Death, Female Protagonist, Female Yu Narukami, Gen, Hinted P3P Female Verse connection, How do I even tag?, Implied Sexual Content, Long haired Yu!, Multi, Origami Cranesssss, Other, Yu is referred to as Yui, Yui Narukami
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-15
Updated: 2018-10-08
Packaged: 2019-02-01 15:20:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Underage
Chapters: 4
Words: 13,634
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12707610
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/XrosaryX/pseuds/XrosaryX
Summary: Parallel lines are alike. They run side by side together, reaching the same goal in the exact same form. However what if the lines show paths of similarities, but the one who walks them are different? They reach to the same ending, but each path holds obstacles that although alike at first, are different to who the path is walked upon by.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING PERTAINING TO THE PERSONA SERIES!!!
> 
> So! I had this story originally on my fanfiction.net account and I have decided to move it over here. I have made some revisions compared to the first story posted, and I only hope you enjoy it!

She jolts awake, the back of her head hitting something hard making her wince as her hands immediately press against the back of her head. Gritting her teeth she slowly lowers her hands before blinking in surprise at her new surroundings.

Blue…All around her is blue…

Her eyes adjust a bit to the dim lighting and she takes note of the rather luxurious space, was this a limousine? The seat beneath her is made of soft cushions and she can feel the cool leather resting against the palms of her hands as she looks around. A bar is to the left of her and she can make out the variety of bottles and glasses lined up on the shelves.

When had she gotten here?

Her mind scrambles about trying to piece together how she made her way to her seat on the plush cushioned seat, but nothing comes to mind. She was so certain that she was on a train on her way to the countryside. Her train of thought is halted as she notes how quiet it is in the vehicle, she is the only one here...?

She looks out the window and squints her eyes as she tries to look through the fog outside before glancing around the limo in hopes to find someone with her.

Turning around she notices the outline of something through the mirror that separates the driver from the main part of the vehicle. The glass is a dark blue that matches the rest of the limo’s exterior, but it’s a little clear to allow her to see the back of the driver’s head. She can make out pale colored hair and a hat…Curiously she lightly taps the glass in hopes to get the driver’s attention. The driver makes no move to turn their head and she raises her had up into a fist to knock only to halt as she hears someone clearing their throat.

“Welcome to the Velvet Room.”

Her hand stops and she turns towards the direction of the voice as she finally notices two other people seated across from her in the car. She lowers her hand before shifting in her seat until both her feet are set properly on the floor. Her hands rest back on the top of her lap and the man who had spoken grins a bit, “Ah…It seems we have a guest with an intriguing destiny. Very intriguing.”

A chuckle follows after the statement as her eyes study the two seated in front of her.

The man in front of her isn’t quite human like in appearance. In fact he appears a bit more like a goblin than a man honestly. His extremely long nose and pointed ears only emphasis the point of her observation and she can’t help feeling a little wary as he rests his bony elbows on the blue table in front of him. His eyes are quite unsettling as they seem a little too wide and his smile reveals his white teeth.

The other person beside him is a woman, one who looks back at her with equal interest and attention as her companion. She is beautiful in all honestly with platinum blond hair carefully styled in place, pale skin and bright golden eyes that hold a hint of amusement as they stare at each other. She wears a blue uniform much like the same shade of blue around them and her eyes drift down to the woman's lap where a large book rests.

“My name is Igor,” the man speaks up again as his smile seems to widen as she looks at him, “I am delighted to make your acquaintance.”

She hesitates briefly before bowing her head in greeting towards him as he continues to smile at her. Her gesture only seems to give Igor a signal to continue to speak and for a moment her focus is a bit distorted. Whether it was from her confusion or the sudden amount of speaking Igor is doing, she tries her hardest to grasp what the other is explaining.

Her mind begins to drift a bit as he continues to speak to her and she learns that the place she is currently in is called the Velvet Room, a space between dream and reality.

Was she really dreaming?

She gently touches the back of her head and she grits her teeth as her fingers brush against the obvious bump forming on the back of her head. She barely manages to catch Igor speaking of about a 'contract' and how it seems related to her future. She's honestly too far confused and in bewilderment that she is surprised that when she looks up to Igor that he is staring at her in silence. The woman beside him is staring at her too, but the corners of her lip are twitching as they keep looking at her.

"...Your name?"

"Oh!" Her voice finally echoes through the space for the first time since she's awoken, "Yui...Yui Narukami."

Igor takes a moment to cast a glance to the woman to his left as his smile seems to grow a bit wider at her name as he chuckles. "Now...Let's take a look into your future, shall we?"

A hand is set in front of him and a glow shines through the dim blue, a deck of cards rest now in front of him. She stares at them in curiosity as her head tilts to the side as the man's hand rests on the top of the deck of cards, "Do you believe in fortune telling my dear?"

"Not..Not quite," she answers as she stares at his long fingers over the cards, "I am familiar of it, but I never had one done. Isn't the reading done by cards and then interpreted through each card's meaning to show the result of what person must do in order to find a future that's worth something to them? It's all up to fate and one's way to depict which path is truly right for them." Her understanding of the mechanics of tarot readings is quite vague and she has only known about it as a 'silly trick' the girls back in the city squealed over. Yet her rambled on answer brings a wide smile upon Igor's face. Yui isn't even sure it's possible for someone to smile so widely, but Igor proves her wrong as he begins to draw a few cards off the top of the deck to rest in front of him on the table.

"Ah, yet life itself follows the same principles, yes?" She muses over that statement and leans a bit forward to watch him flip over the first card he sets down before her. The card has a drawing of a tower being struck by lightning as two figures seem to be falling out of the window.

"The Tower," Igor announces as he lightly taps his chin, "Representing the immediate future. It seem a terrible catastrophe is imminent."

She watches as his long fingers choose another card and flips it over, "Now the card indicating the future beyond that is..."

This card has the picture of a full moon drawn on it and she hesitates before speaking up, "The...The Moon?"

"Yes," Igor answers her and she watches as he lightly taps the edge of the card, "This card represents hesitation and mystery. Quite interesting...Interesting indeed." He looks amused at the two cards before them and she bites her lower lip as she stares at the two. A card representing catastrophe and the other representing hesitation along with mystery? What would that mean to her?

"It seems you will be encountering a misfortune at your destination dear guest," Igor finally speaks up and she straightens up as he chuckles, "And a great mystery will be imposed upon you. In the coming days you will enter into a contract of some sort, after which you will return here. The coming year is a turning point in your destiny...However, if the mystery goes unsolved, your future may be forever lost."

A shiver runs down her spine as she looks down at the cards again.

Her future...Lost?

Igor remains quiet before speaking up again, "My duty is to provide assistance to our guests to ensure that does not happen."

Suddenly the shivers and chill seeping into her are gone the instant he says those words and her shoulders fall down in relief. Igor's hand lifts up and with a wave the cards disappear from the table as she offers him a smile. The man simply grins at her as he has been and slowly raises a hand towards the direction of the other occupant in the car with them, "Ah! I have neglected to introduce my assistant to you. This is Margaret, she is a resident of this place much like myself."

 

The woman bows slightly to Yui and smiles, "My name is Margaret," she tells her, "I am here to accompany you through your journey." The way her voice is carries a strong sense of authority and Yui feels a sense of earnest in her words. She looks over her shoulder to the driver and looks to Margaret, "Who is-"

"We shall attend to the details another time," Igor suddenly interrupts before she can ask about the driver, "For now...We part."

Yui can only blink at the words and frowns, "Details...There's more?" The two only give her a look until Igor speaks up, "Worry not dear guest," he assures her before giving her one last smile, "Until then, farewell."

She opens her mouth as more questions come to mind.

Why did she come to this place?

What did Igor mean by 'details' and 'another time?'

Was this all a dream?

It felt...Too real...

Her eyelids begin to close and the blue turns to black as slumps in her seat.

The faint memory of blue lingers as she can feel herself drifting off into the abyss of sleep. 

* * *

She jerks up, barely saving herself from slamming her forehead against the cold pane of the window on her right as the train continues to rattle on the tracks. She lightly rubs at her eyes as she tries to wake up from her groggy state.

Yui Narukami was the only passenger in the train car, the scene of clear skies and land free of cement and steel buildings met her gaze as she ran her fingers through her light grey hair. Her fingers catch a few tangles and she jerks against them to free her fingers before lightly brushing her bangs out of her eyes as she peers out the window. She sinks a bit deeper into the hard cushioned train seat as the intercom chimes on, "Now approaching...Yasoinaba."

Right...She was going to Yasoinaba for a year.

The dream she had earlier still clung to her memory, almost making her forget why she had been on a train in the first place. Yui looks up to the sky again and marvels on how the blue above didn't match the blue she had seen in her dreams.

A goblin like man with such a long nose smiling to her as he showed her cards upon the table that read her future...

A beauty by the name of Margaret who spoke with a smile, yet didn't reach her cold gold eyes...

A mysterious driver who was not mentioned...

Dreams were something the brain came up with to convey some message to the dreamer if she recalled. Did her dream have any meaning?

Yui sighs and rubs at her forehead as she wonders if she was really worried about staying in her mother's old hometown for a year. It truly was Yui's first time away from the city and she was going to be staying with relatives she honestly never had interactions with. Perhaps her conscious just allowed herself to make up such a dream as a way to remind her to calm down.

The teenager just shakes her head before digging into her jacket pocket to take out her cell phone and quickly presses the side to open up the screen. The device feels cold in her hand as she looks at the last text sent to her before she had boarded the train.

**-Meet us outside Yasoinaba Station at 4PM.-**

The name accompanying it was Ryotaro Dojima, her uncle.

Yui's mother had given her a rather vague description of her uncle's personality. All Yui knew was that he was a detective who was a bit rough around the edges, but a good man. From the thin family photo album, her mother had shown her his picture. A very tall man with dark hair much like her mother's and growing a bit of a stubble that seemed to fit his detective image that she had been told about.

She also knew she had a cousin, Nanako, who was seven years old and attended the elementary school that was only a few blocks away from the high school she would be attending. Her uncle's wife had died when her cousin was quite young and Yui's mother had been considerate enough to skip over any extra details before asking her what clothes she'd like to bring with her. She grasps her cell phone a bit tighter as she returns to staring out at the view of the country as the train approaches closer to the town.

For as long as she could remember, she was often alone.

Parents were workaholics, her father always running around to get to meetings and her mother always on her phone in her warmest yet professional secretary like tone reserved for all clients calling for her. They never did to pay attention that their teenage daughter wanted a say in the already planned out living arrangement with a family relative she knew so little about or even if she wanted to go with them overseas. Yui closes her eyes and lets out a sigh before the intercom's chiming echoes through the empty train, "Arriving to Yasoinaba Station. Arriving to Yasoinaba Station. Will all passengers please take all luggage and begin to move to the exit. Repeat, arriving now to Yasoinaba."

The grey haired teenager slowly gets up from her seat and begins to reach up to grab her duffel bag from the overhead compartment. Her fingers are a little weak around the strap as she adjusts her hold on her bag as best as she can.

Did her uncle really want to have her?

She wouldn't put it pass her parents for being a little pushy with him and shakes her head, "I'll have...I'll have to make the most of it," she tells herself as she carefully makes her way to the nearest door. Her mind goes back to the memory of her dream and she frowns a bit as she recalls it.

...Was it really a dream? The details were too realistic and the sound of the limousine's engine were as clear as Igor's odd daunting voice as he read her future.

"...I don't believe in fortune-telling though," she muttered quietly to herself as the train finally comes to a halt and she straightens herself up as the doors finally open. Carefully gripping the railing she walks down the steps and steps onto the platform. Yui glances around the empty platform before slowly walking away from the train towards the entrance way.

 _"There's so much quiet,"_ her boots echo loudly throughout the empty station and she stops for a moment at the steps out of the station towards the train as it pulls away. The country side was really different from the city. Usually she would have to weave her way through crowds of people to get to the exit, but here one would think they stepped into a ghost town if not for the distant sounds of children playing and a few cars driving by.

"Inaba is such a tiny town," her mother's words rang out, "I'm sure you'd be surprised Yui. There's a reason why I like the city so much. The country's sides too peaceful for me and too quiet...The hustle and bustle of the city is just right. Just be sure not to get too bored in the head to do anything funny." Yui tucks a strand of her hair behind her ears before exiting the station and adjusting the strap of her bag in her fingers.

Did her parents really think she could possibly be a troublemaker?

She had always been a good girl...Even so far as just allowing them to dump her off to the nearest family member when they went overseas for the year. She lightly tucks in the strand of hair behind her ear again as she takes out her phone to see the time shown is 4:01 PM.

"Hey! Over here!"

The yell snaps her head up from her phone and she looks over to see a tall man standing by a white car waving to her. She recognizes him the instant their eyes meet and she walks over to him. He's aged a bit compared to the pictures her mother showed her, but there is no mistaking it. 

Ryotaro Dojima smiles to her and extends his hand out for her to shake. She smiles in return and slips her hand into his to grasp it briefly and she notes that his smile is a bit forced on his face. The lines of his face are too tight and she has a feeling he is more of a person who frowns. "Hello Uncle Dojima."

"Hey now, no need to be so formal," her uncle laughs as he looks her up and down, "Well, you're more beautiful in person than in your photo." Her face feels a bit hot at his compliment and she bows a bit to him as he laughs again, "Well, you do look like your mother. Save for your hair and height I guess you get that from your dad huh? How tall are you anyway?"

"I'm five six," Yui answers before lightly kicking at the ground, "And you're too kind. I really don't look anything like my mother."

All she had from her mother was her face.

Defined cheekbones and almond-shaped gray eyes were much like her mother's, but she did definitely inherit her father's genetic in height and his grey hair. Her long straight hair had been grown all the way to cover her whole back and her bangs were carefully swept to the left in an identical way her mother had hers. Yui knew her hair color and height did make her stand out, but to be called beautiful was quite a compliment for her. 

She can only guess she's still blushing a bit as her uncle chuckles before shrugging, "Well, either way...Welcome to Inaba."

"Thank you very much for caring for me," Yui bows to him and watches as the man nervously scratches the back of his head, "Hey, again no need to be so formal. You might not remember, but we did meet a long time ago. Back then you were still a baby, and I had to change your diapers you know."

Immediately her face feels hotter and Yui coughs light at his remark before letting out a nervous laugh as she notices his own smile slowly disappearing. What sort of family member, a male one especially, brought that up? She clears her throat before tilting her head to the side as she notices a little girl peeking from behind Dojima's legs. The child tenses up and she returns to hiding behind his legs as she realizes Yui saw her.

The girl looks about seven and her dark brown hair is tied back in two pigtails by two pink hair ties. Yui carefully sets her bag down to the ground and kneels a bit to the girl's level as she keeps clinging to her uncle's leg. Dojima notices this and moves aside which causes the girl to make a sound of protest. He isn't amused and lightly taps her on the shoulder to urge her forward in front of him, "Come on Nanako, introduce yourself to your cousin."

So this was her younger cousin Nanako.

Yui's mouth slowly turns up into a smile as Nanako finally lifts her eyes to meet her face, "...'lo..."

The shy greeting makes Yui's smile widen and she rests her hands onto the tops of her jeans as she continues to kneel in front of her cousin, "Hi Nanako," she quietly greets her, "I'm Yui. It's nice to meet you." Nanako's face turns a bright pink and she ducks back behind the protection of her father's legs as Yui straightens up.

"What're you so shy for?" Dojima loudly teased as he looks behind him, "You were all excited earlier abo-OW!" There's a sharp intake of breath and a hiss when a loud smack is heard. Yui quickly covers her mouth to stop her snicker as her uncle gives his daughter a hard glare. The little girl had quite a strong hand and she looks to him with an equally annoyed glare.

"Well," Dojima quickly clears his throat, "My car's over there. Let's get going."

She nods, her smile still plastered widely on her face as she follows after him. She opens the door and sets her duffel bag to the floor before climbing into the back. Nanako jumps right in and takes a moment to stare at her.

Yui stares back at her in return before giving the girl a quick wink. Nanako immediately turns pink again and looks away just as Dojima turns the keys into the car's ignition.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yui settles down in her new home, but not without one last dream to end her day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING PERTAINING TO THE PERSONA SERIES!!!
> 
> Also I apologize in advance for all missed grammatical and misspellings I have missed. Please enjoy!!

The drive from the station to town consisted of Yui responding to Dojima’s questions appropriately.

Most were questions regarding her trip and how her parents were. Her answers ranged from ‘It was fine’ and an uncertain laugh as she nervously attempted to answer that her parents were fine. Honestly, Yui wasn’t even sure if they were fine, when she had left home her parents didn’t even say a proper goodbye and only had left a note for her on the counter.

After that the ride became rather quiet.

Dojima had tried to turn on the radio only to shut it off as the stations seemed to only be focusing on talking about the Mayumi Yamano scandal. The scandal had been talked about too in the city and most of the television shows were covering as much as they could about it.

Yui only played with a strand of her hair as Dojima spoke up, “Ya know, I know it’s probably not something you wouldn’t have wanted. Your parents leaving you behind, but I’m sure you’ll enjoy Inaba. I’m glad you’re staying. I’m sure it’ll be fun.” 

"...I'm looking forward to it." Yui smiled, grateful that the man had finally spoken more during the ride, "And, again thank you for taking me in Uncle Dojima." He lets out a bit of a chuckle, the silence falls upon them again until Nanako made a quiet sound of discomfort.

"...I have to use the bathroom..."

Immediately Yui's head snapped back and peered over her seat to her cousin before giving her uncle an unsure glance, "Um...Uncle?"

Dojima makes a quiet grunt before pointing towards a rather conveniently placed gas station and he quickly turns the car into the nearest pump. The car comes to a halt and the little girl struggles to unbuckle herself out, "H-Hold on." Yui unbuckles her own belt before shifting around in her seat until she leans through the middle opening to help Nanako. Her cousin's seat belt comes free and Yu hears Nanako give her a quiet thanks before pushing her door open.

"Hi! Welcome to Moel!"

The gas attendant rushes over and greets them loudly as Dojima comes out of the driver's seat just as Yui herself exits out the car. The smell of gasoline hits her nose and she makes a bit of a face as she watches Nanako walk forward, only to stop suddenly. Her cousin's mouth turns down into a frown and her eyebrow furrow as she stands still. "It's in the back to your left!" she can hear the attendant call out to her, "You know which way's left, right? It's the hand you don't hold your chopsticks in!"

Yui can make out her younger cousin’s lips pursued into a pout, "I know that...Geez..."

Yui's lips twitch into a smile as she begins to walk her way around the car as her eyes watch her younger cousin run towards the direction the attendant tells her. From around the car she can hear her uncle and the attendant speak with each other, "So you heading out?"

"Ah no," Dojima answers, "We just came back from picking her up at the station, my niece. She's from the big city. Regular's fine." Yui leans up against the car just as her uncle appears around the corner, his hand in his pocket before looking at his watch. “Now’s a good time as any for a smoke..."

Her uncle pulls out a pack of cigarettes before looking at her, a small grin on his face as he quickly walks further away from her. Yui forces herself to press her lips into a tight line before sighing, even if she was to live with him she had no intention of making him break his habits.

Despite her obvious distaste to it. All she can do now is wait...

Her eyes glance around her new surroundings as she takes notes at the buildings around her.  From where she stands, she can see a small row of stores lined up close by the station a few blocks away. A bus stop is right across from where she stands. All of which, she notes, are all walking distance at best.

This town was very different from the city…

"Are you in high school?"

The attendant's voice breaks through whatever trance she had put herself in and she pushes off from the car to walk around it. Her steps are light and she peers around the side of the car until she spots the attendant who bows his hat to her. Up close she notices that his hair is long and shaggy, a dark gray color too though much darker than her hair color. The hat has MOEL across the top which overcasts his face with a light shadow making it hard for her to distinguish his face very well. She can at least make out his lips pulling up into a small smile at least.

That and how tall he was compared to her, she actually had to look up at him a bit as she steps a little closer. Remembering the question she nods slowly before speaking up, “Yes I am. I’ll be a second year."

The smile tugs up a bit more and she tilts her head curiously as another question is asked to her, "Does it surprise a city girl to see how little there is out here?"

To that Yui shakes her head before shrugging, “It doesn’t seem so bad. Different at most of course if you compare it to the city after all. No surprise I would believe,” she can only give the gas attendant a weak smile, “I mean…My mother originally was from here and she told me how small it was. It really is smaller compared to where I used to live, but I think she was over exaggerating a bit.”

The attendant gives a little hum before peering at the gas pump before turning his attention to her again, “There's so little to do, I'm sure you'll get bored fast. You'll either be hanging out with your friends or doing part-time jobs."

It sounded nice actually.

She didn't want to depend on Dojima so the idea of getting a part-time job was nice. Heavens know when her parents would remember her and send her an allowance again. In the city the schools she attended were strongly against the idea of their students working. If she could get a part-time job here, it would be enjoyable perhaps and give her experience.

Now friends...

Her stomach suddenly felt heavy and hurt at the thought. Yui glances away before shrugging, no.

Don't think about it...

"Oh speaking of about part-time jobs!" Yui's thoughts were interrupted again; the man sure was chatty...Was this something to expect in the small town? In the city no one really would just talk to a random stranger.

"We're actually looking for part-time help right now," the attendant's smile returns, much wider than before, and Yui nervously tucks a strand of her hair behind her ear as their eyes meet, "Give it some thought? We don't mind if you're a student." With that the man takes one step back before extending his hand out to her and automatically she extends her own out, "I'll..Think about it. Thank you for the offer."

His hand feels cold in hers and his grip is actually a bit firmer than she anticipated as he shakes her hand. She's quick to draw her hand back to her side as he tugs his hat again,  "Well back to work for me. See you around okay?" He chuckles and flashes a wide smile before pulling the gas pump out and putting it back into its proper place. Yui turns in time to see Nanako running back to her and a smile forms on Yui's face.

Yet as soon as she steps towards her cousin's direction she lets out a hiss of pain as a sudden throb pulses hard in her head. She stumbles a bit over her feet and sways as one of her hands rests against her forehead quickly. Her eyes close and she tries to rub at her temple with the tips of her fingers to urge it to pass. When it's gone her eyes slowly open to see Nanako stare up at her with wide eyes filled with worry, "Are you...Okay?"

Yui gives her a shaky grin at her concern to shake her head. Her younger cousin frowns, "You didn't get...Car sicky did you?"

"No...It's gone," Yui assures her, "It went away just like that." The teen snaps her fingers to emphasis that and can only smile. Nanako continues to stare at her, those wide brown eyes not convinced at all.

After a few more seconds of silence Nanako looks away from her.

"Well..If you say so."

Yui just smiles and turns around as she hears Dojima speak up behind her. There's a faint smell of smoke and she can hear Nanako sigh. So she's not the only one who doesn't like this habit.

"Huh? What's wrong?"

The two girls quickly shake their heads to which he frowns, "Well...If nothing's wrong let's head home now." Yui's fingers lightly press against her forehead as she makes her way back to the passenger side.

Perhaps Yui was just tired...That was understandable...Right?

* * *

Store bought sushi.

That was her dinner.

No correction that was their dinner.

Yui stares at the small plastic box of sushi with blankly as she hears Nanako struggle to open the bottle of orange juice. She's torn a bit to help her cousin or to let her be. Just as she opens her mouth the bottle cap finally loosens and Nanako smiles at her accomplishment as she pours her drink into her glass. Yui sighs in relief before turning to her own drink as Dojima lifts his glass.

"I know this was supposed to be your welcome dinner, but uh...I'm not much of a cook."

Yui shakes her head as he nods to the glass in his hand, "Let's have a toast."

Nanako eagerly raises hers while the older girl half timidly raises her own. They all take a sip of their drinks on cue before picking up their chopsticks.

"Well, even though it's for a year," her uncle told her, "I mentioned this before, but getting stuck here because of your parents...It's rough being a kid. It's just me and Nanako here, so it'll be nice having someone like you around. So long as you're here, you're part of the family so make yourself at home." Yui smiles a bit and nods while a soft giggle comes, "I know...And I will. Thank you again uncle."

Her uncle smiles, a smile that's a lot less forced than from the station. That in itself made Yui grow warm as she begins to move her chopsticks to pick up a piece of sushi.

A family huh...

The phone suddenly rings making them all freeze.

"Ugh...Who's calling at this hour?" Yui and Nanako look at him as he begins to stand up. Hands whip out a cell phone from his pants pick and he turns his back to them.

"Dojima speaking."

Yui turns her head to Nanako before turning back to Dojima. The man nods a bit, quietly muttering to whoever is on the other line.

"Got it. I'm on my way."

Yui turns away and her shoulders fall down as she spots the look upon Nanako's face at the sentence. Her posture seemed to have gone slack, her eyes averted towards her sushi and her mouth drawn into a tight quivering line. She has seen this look many times before, on her own face...

"Look like I made the right choice to skip the booze..."

She looks up to Dojima as he sighs, "Sorry, but I gotta go take care of some business. Go ahead and eat without me." Yui's teeth grit hard against each other as her eyes do a side glance towards Nanako. The girl is now standing up, her eyes wide as if she wants to say something.

"I don't know how late I'll be. Nanako, you help her out, okay?"

Yui keeps her eyes on the retreating figure of the man as he can hear Nanako sigh, "...Okay."

The front door opens and Yui can hear Dojima sigh loudly, "Nanako, it's raining out. What did you do with the laundry!"

"I already brought it in! It's dry!"

Yui finally turns away from the direction of the front door as Dojima calls out he's leaving. The door slams shut and silence falls on the two girls. Nanako sits back down and begins to carefully pick up her sushi as Yui looks down at hers before looking back up to the young girl across.

"...Your dad's a detective right?"

A nod as Nanako swallows a piece of sushi, "Uh huh. At the police department. It's always like this."

There are no hints of anger or sadness in Nanako's answer. It's spoken as a fact and Yui finds it a bit hard to make herself eat. Nanako reaches out for the television remote that rests upon the table and presses the power button. The TV turns on just as the weather channel ends its current segment.

Yui manages to catch tomorrow's weather as rainy before it quickly switches to reveal a commercial.

A bright building with red letters spelling 'JUNES' upon the roof appear. The store is a bit familiar to her, a department store it seemed.

Nanako makes a quiet sound of happiness at the sight as a woman's voice comes on air, "At Junes every day is customer appreciation day! Come in and experience it for yourselves!" The commercial begins to flash a few shots of Junes as the woman happily sings, a perky melody follows after.

**_"Everyday's great at your Junes~"_ **

"Everyday's great at your Junes~"

The little girl's happy voice causes Yui to watch her sway happily in tune to her words before giggling. This had to be the first time she's seen the girl sound truly happy. Yui stiffens her posture once Nanako's smile drops, "You're not hungry?"

"A-Ah n-I mean," Yui quietly fumbles over her words as she quickly picks up her chopsticks and sticks a piece of sushi into her mouth. Only to force herself to swallow as her eyes burned a bit. She had comw to realize the piece contained a considerable amount of wasabi.

After dinner Yui and Nanako decided to go to bed, though the decision was made when Yui gave her younger cousin a long stare after they cleared the table. The little girl had returned to her seat to stare at the TV screen until she turned to meet the older girl's stare.

Obviously Nanako had been left alone for far too long...

Yui sighed as she rested herself onto the futon of her room as she looked around.

Compared to her old room back at her family's apartment, the guest room of the Dojima household was far bigger.

There was a desk, a closet, an empty metal bookcase, a couch and a television set all fit perfectly into the space. She stretched a bit before allowing herself to fall onto the top of her bed with a quiet sigh, "A whole year..."

Inaba did not seem all that bad...

Uncle Dojima seemed very nice, except his obvious inability to notice that perhaps work didn't need to come first. Was it a family tradition to blow off dinner to leave for work? Her mother did it a lot...Maybe it ran from her side and her father was just one of the lucky few men who had the same work ethic?

Nanako seemed shy around her, but Yui felt a bit of affection towards the girl. Her younger cousin was adorable and quite mature for her age. Yui felt a sting of affection towards Nanako, it hurt especially when she recalled her cousin's expression after her father left.

That was a face she knew all too well.

All the same the two were her new family here.

Her mouth opens up into a yawn as she can feel her eyelids slowly droop, "...A year here..." Black covers her vision as she feels her body slowly sink into the heavy feel of exhaustion.

* * *

**DO YOU WISH TO LEARN THE TRUTH?**

The voice that suddenly echoes through her head urges her to open her eyes, was she dreaming again? Instead of blue or the sight of her room though Yui can only see a shadowy figure not too far away from her surrounded by fog.

**THEN TRY YOUR BEST TO CATCH IT.**

This voice is not like Igor's...

While that goblin like man's voice was a bit distorted this one was spoken in a much deeper tone.

Yui guessed it was male as the shadowy figure was taller than her and looked bulkier. Her eyes blink a bit more until she manages to right herself up from the ground. However she is alone.

The shadow is gone...

All around her is fog and she squints a bit, struggling to peer forward. The only visible object in front of her is a dark red and black path that goes straight forward. Yui stands forward, staring before one word slips out, "Truth.."

Her feet slowly begin to move forward, the only direction available to her at the moment.

The voice earlier spoke of truth, who was it though. What truth? Her footsteps echo through the space as she begins to pick up her pace to that of a brisk jog. She isn't sure how long she goes down the path, it seems endless and her breath slowly begins to come from her mouth as she hurries.

The end.

If there is an end, there is an exit right?

**SO...YOU ARE THE ONE PURSUING ME...**

A new figure stands before her now.

The voice is not clear, distorted between high and low pitches and from where she stands she cannot tell what is the appearance of who speaks to her. Unlike the earlier voice, this one makes her shiver in fear.

**HM...TRY ALL YOU LIKE...**

Yui gulps nervously and her fingers twitch. Before she could speak, her hands suddenly grasp something. The handle of the sword is heavy, but that made her feel secured. A card begins to form in front of her eyes. Instinctively her fingers reach and quickly crushes it with her fingers. A light bolts down from the sky and strikes where the new shadow figure is.

**HM...IT SEEMS YOU CAN SEE A LITTLE, DESPITE THE FOG...**

Again her fingers reach to smash the blue card in front of her. Her actions are unguided, automatic like a robot.

Again a bolt of light strikes the figure.

**I SEE...INDEED, YOU POSSESS AN INTERESTING QUALITY...**

"What...Do you mean?!" Her voice rings out as her body moves forward. Her body is moving without her permission!

Her arms swing the sword down, but she hears nothing from the figure when she strikes.

Did she miss?

**BUT...YOU WILL NOT CATCH ME SO EASILY...**

Yui can see the card again and her hand is already reaching out to crush it. This time the lightning strikes just a foot away from the figure, "I missed..." The voice seems to have laughed and is growing amused.

**IF WHAT YOU SEEK IS 'TRUTH,' THEN YOU SEARCH WILL BE EVEN HARDER...**

**EVERYONE SEES WHAT THEY WANT TO...AND THE FOG ONLY DEEPENS...**

The words confuse her and her arms raise the sword as she charges forward. The blade strikes through the figure and she jumps back. Her body...It was as if her body knew what to do. It needed none of her thoughts to attack. But why? More questions form into her head as the voice laughs.

**WILL WE MEET AGAIN...?**

**AT A PLACE OTHER THAN HERE...**

**...I LOOK FORWARD TO IT...**

"I have no clue what you mean!" Yui yells as the fog suddenly thickens, "H-Hey, wait a second!"

She steps forward only to be halted by something. It's a hand that grabs a hold of her arm that prevents her from wandering anywhere closer to the fog.

Just as her head snaps back, Yui can feel her eye lids droop again. "Not...Again..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit of a tadbit from my ff.net note for this chapter.
> 
> Both Izanagi and Izanami appeared in front of Yui this chapter. However Izanagi was the first voice and Izanami is the second. I think you faced Izanami in the game due to what the figure says. The key words being that the shadowy figures says everyone sees what they want and the fog deepens as well as looking forward to something. Izanagi on the other hand is encouraging Yui to go after the truth.
> 
> In the anime Yu sees a figure in his dreams that tells him the same thing.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's time to head to school!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DISCLAIMER TIME: I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING PERTAINING TO THE PERSONA SERIES!
> 
> I apologize for all possible missed grammatical errors and misspellings I may have have missed! Please enjoy!

The soft chirping of birds woke Yui, her hand weakly reaching out from the confines of the blankets to rub at her eyes. Her whole body aches for some reason and she slowly sits up with a yawn. A knock makes her jump a bit and she turns her head towards the door, “Hm? Y-Yes what is it…?”

“Breakfast is ready!”

Nanako’s voice is a bit louder, but Yui can only guess it would be due to the door being closed. Though her cousin’s voice is enough to rid of the lingering bits of sleep she still had. Yui makes a quiet grunt before pushing the covers off her, “Okay…I’ll be down in a bit Nanako-chan.” Faint footsteps are heard walking away from her door and Yui lets out another yawn as she stands up.

Her arms stretch upward and she hisses in pain as her shoulder blades along with lower back ache.

Had she slept on the wrong side perhaps?

Her eyes close before she blinks as she remembers the dream from last night. Fingers run through her hair as she sighs, “Right…I had another dream.”

Two dreams in a row from yesterday, and both left her feeling exhausted and somewhat in pain somewhere. The teenager shakes her head before heading directly towards her closet and opening the door.  She would need to wonder about those dreams later, for now it’s time to get ready for school.

Her uniform hangs neatly on the two hangers, both easily yanked off by her as she makes a grab for her hairbrush too.

It takes her a while, but eventually she stands in front of the mirror in her new uniform with her long hair carefully pulled back into a ponytail. The black and white uniform fits quite well on her, the skirt going past her knees by an inch instead of the mid-thigh hem length. Being tall made her very self-conscious of skirt hems so she was happy to learn the school sent the right skirt to her.

Her fingers fiddle with the yellow neckerchief before she drops her hand to her side, “Okay…Let’s go.”

Yui does one quick check to be sure all her items are in her bag before taking it out with her as she heads downstairs to meet with Nanako and Dojima for breakfast.

She sees her younger cousin carrying a plate of eggs before looking up at her, “Good morning.”

“Good morning Nanako-chan,” she greets and sets her bag down before coming over to the table. She stops for a moment and studies the table to only see it set for only two people. Her eyebrow raises up a bit at the sight and she looks over to Nanako who is already seated. She looks away quickly and pulls out her own chair.

She can only guess that her uncle had either left home early or hadn’t returned from work last night.

Either way, Yui holds her tongue and begins to eat her toast before taking another pause as the situation dawned on her.

“Nanako-chan…Do you always cook breakfast by yourself?” The young girl doesn’t look up from her eggs and nods, “Uh huh. I can toast bread and cook sunny-side up eggs in the morning. Dad can’t cook, so I buy dinner.”

Yui can feel an odd sense of de ja vu at that and stares at the food before clearing her throat, “Say…How about for tonight, I cook something?”

There’s a lengthy pause and Yui raises her head to see Nanako stare with her brown eyes wide. The girl seems stunned if her mouth parting a bit gave Yui a clue that her offer took the young girl off guard. Nanako quickly shakes her head and looks down at her plate, “Ah…N-No it’s okay. I’m used to it.”

Her cheeks are a light pink and her fingers continue to fiddle with her skirt until Yui speaks up again, “I’m pretty confident in my cooking skills,” she smiles to Nanako before looking at her food, “I don’t know what we have, but…Hm. Is there anything you’d like Nanako-chan?”

“N-Not really,” Nanako quickly answers and Yui’s smile grows a bit at how her cousin struggles to answer, “Um…I don’t know. Why don’t you decide? I don’t mind anything at all.”

“Alright,” Yui nods before reaching out to gently pat Nanako on the shoulder, “I’ll try to surprise you with something, okay? I hope I meet your expectations.”

Even with Nanako’s head down Yui can make out a small smile forming on her cousin’s face before getting up to take her plate to the sink. Nanako drinks the last of her juice before doing the same and following after her, “Um…”

“Yes Nanako-chan?”

Yui moves aside as Nanako quickly puts her plate and glass into the sink before looking up to her, “You’re starting school today right? M-My school’s on the way so…”

The question goes unfinished, but Yui already knows what she wanted to ask. “Yes, let’s walk together Nanako-chan.”

Nanako’s eyes lit up and she nods before going around Yui to gather her things as the teenager puts her own plate and glass into the sink.

Nanako was obviously very independent; having to cook breakfast alone and even handling dinner was something Yui could relate to. However, her acceptance to the routine rubbed Yui the wrong way. This hit very close to home, but she wondered where her uncle was at this very moment.

Was he always leaving Nanako alone every day?

Did he always stay out all night while on an assignment and never call to check in with Nanako in the morning?

Just how often was Dojima being called out to work?

Yui shakes her head and accepts the umbrella offered to her by Nanako as they stepped out of the house. She would try to ask questions later, if her uncle ever came home today.

The walk to school was a quiet one, but eventually the two girls came to an intersection where Nanako began to walk towards the left. “Your school is that way,” she informed Yui and pointed right, “Mine is this way. Um…Bye.”

“Have a good day at school,” Yui told Nanako who bowed to her before quickly turning away from her. She waited until Nanako’s figure became a bit smaller before heading towards the direction Nanako had pointed to her. Her grip on her umbrella was firm as she concentrated on the rain lightly pelting her umbrella.

Yui began to pass students further down the street and she relaxed a bit from the reassurance that she was heading in the right direction. Many of the students walking by carried umbrellas and Yui saw the occasional unlucky schoolmate run after a friend to find shelter.

The sight just as ordinary and normal to Yui, something she would have seen back in the city.

"W-W-WHOAAAAA!"

The yell startled her and immediately Yui steps off to the side on instinct as a flash of orange, yellow and black whizzed right by her eyes. Her eyes widen in shock before closing them immediately as the blur was heading right a telephone pole. Another yell followed, this one of pain, and a heavy thud hit the concrete.

“…Ouch,” she whispered to herself as she finally lets herself see the damage.

A male student with brown hair and orange headphones is leaning forward, his hands grasping the front of his crotch. Yui glances to the side and notes that his bike had skidded forward from the crash while luckily remaining undamaged. The boy continues to moan in pain and lightly presses his forehead against the telephone pole as he continued to cover the front of his pants.

A wave of sympathy comes over Yui, but she feels that she was useless in really helping him. Instead she quickly averts her eyes away and lowers her umbrella enough to cover her face before speed walking by him. If she couldn’t help, the next best thing was save the poor guy the embarrassment that he was seen.

Her feet lightly splash through puddles until she spots the gates of Yasogami High School.

Perhaps it was just the way city schools were built, but for some odd reason the school looked much bigger than she anticipated. Just an ordinary high school….

Yui quickly walks ahead, her mind reeling over the instructions given to her when she left home. First thing she needed to do was find the teacher’s lounge and find her homeroom teacher.

If memory served her right, her teacher went by the name Kinshiro Morooka...

* * *

The man was unbearable.

As soon as he glanced in her direction, her whole body cringed on instinct as the man got up from his desk. He walked in an odd manner, his hands in his pockets as he slouched a bit. It seemed as if he was attempting to walk with some sort of swagger? Yet as he came up to her it looked more like staggering. Teeth slightly spread apart especially the front teeth and his hair styled quite poorly.

“So you’re the new transfer huh?”

Yui’s fingers tighten automatically around the handle of her bag at his scoff as she nods to acknowledge his words. The man grunts before brushing by her, “C’mon. We aint’ got all day!”

The teenager breathes sharply through her nose before following after him; her head held high as her eyes trained forward. She passes by a few other students and hears a few whispers that seem to be about her. Being a transfer did seem to warrant a sudden spotlight on her and she hurries her pace after Morooka.

They come to a classroom and she watches as the man throws open the door before speaking up, "Awright, shut your traps!"

Yui's ears ring unpleasantly as Morooka speaks and she quickly turns around to grab the chalk to begin to write her name down. The sooner she's gone from the front the better and it's routine by now for her how introductions were.

She didn’t want this teacher speaking to her any more than he already had.

"I'm Kinshiro Morooka, your homeroom teacher from today forward! First things first! Just 'cause it's spring doesn't mean you can swoon over each other like love-struck baboons!"

She’s so glad the chalk is out of her hands and she faces the front, her hands folded in front of her as she lets out a sigh. It’s hard to tune out Morooka’s voice, but she manages to do so as she looks ahead.

What should she try to make for dniner tonight?

Nanako had said she didn’t have any preferences, but Yui shouldn’t just try to go over the top. Something simple would probably be a good idea and she would double check to see what they had in the kitchen to figure out where to go from here. Maybe if Nanako liked it she could teach her how to cook it later on.

Oh, maybe-

"-introduce this transfer student. Tell ‘em your name, kid…And make it quick."

God was definitely at work since Yui managed to get out of her little trance just in time at Morooka’s words. She cleared her throat before bowing down to her new classmates, “Hello, I’m Yui Narukami. Please treat me kindly.”

She straightens up and feels relieved that introductions are over, or so she thought. Morooka lets out a grunt before speaking again, "This sad sack's been thrown from the big city out to the middle of nowhere like yesterday's garbage-"

It takes all her will power to not snap her head over to look at him and instead grits her teeth. Why was he still talking?

"And she's just as much of a loser here as she was there, so you boys better not get any ideas about hitting on her!"

“Are you calling me a loser?”

Yui’s mouth opened up too quickly for her conscious to catch up to her action and she stares wide eyed at the man after realizing what she just said. There's a collection of quiet gasps in the room at her words. Instantly the teacher’s face shifts from annoyed to pure anger and she braces herself as he turns red in the face.

“That's it! You're on my shit list, effective immediately."

Well, honestly that didn’t sound as threatening as she thought. All fear of being intimidated fell as her anger slowly began to boil up again. Wasn’t it more that he was on hers if he continued to talk about her like that?!

Her lips are pressed in a tight line and she only stares at him as he points a finger at her, "Now listen here missy," he tells her and slams a hand down on his desk, "This town is miles away from your big city of perverts and assholes, in more ways than one. You better not even think of getting involved with the boys here! They ain't gonna go with a girl as easy as you."

She says nothing.

Yet the amount of effort to keep her still began to diminish the longer she stands next to him. While being respectful to teachers was something she did, she was feeling less inclined to do so to Morooka. Her teeth grit harder and she knows her mouth was going to open again, but a new voice quickly speaks up.

“Excuse me! Is it okay if the transfer student sits here?”

A girl in a green jacket with short brown hair holds her hand up, her expression indifferent yet Yui notices her eyes are focusing on her. She must have spoken up to stop whatever possible verbal joust that would go between her and the teacher. Morooka looks at Yui and the girl before letting out a cough, “Yeah sure. Take your seat already!”

Gladly...

Yui turns her head away, letting her ponytail whip along with the motion, before walking towards the empty seat. Dropping her bag at the side, Yui manages to calm down as the girl beside her pokes her. She looks at the other who gives her a small smile, “We call me King Moron,” she whispered to Yui as Morooka begins to write on the board, “He’s horrible. We just gotta hang in there for a year.”

“Yeah,” Yui agrees as she feels herself relaxing again as she notices a few other students giving her glances. Some looking away quickly while others gave her a smile much like the girl’s before going back to their notes. It was reassuring that she wasn’t the only one who didn’t like their homeroom teacher.

Having been transferred in so many schools she should be used to many different sorts of teachers. Unluckily she never ran into one like this man until now. The girl gives her a wink before turning back to her own notes as Yui sighs.

She reaches into her bag to pull out her own notebook, pausing as she watches the rain fall outside. It looked like it was going to keep raining the whole day, but Yui doesn’t look away. There’s a fog outside slowly forming outside and while not thick, was rather eerie to send shivers down her spine.

...Just like the one from her dreams.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The school day comes to an end....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DISCLAIMER TIME: I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING PERTAINING TO THE PERSONA SERIES!
> 
> Made a few changes and some chapter changes compared to the original story I had up on ff.net! I hope you still enjoy!

_"Paper cranes, paper cranes..."_

The mantra had come to mind as Yui remained seated during the rest of school day. She had repeated the words continuously after she settled into her new seat, it was her tenth chat of the day.The images of origami cranes filled her mind as she struggled to stay focus on whatever Moroo-King Moron-said.

She seemed to not be the only one who struggled at least.

The girl who sat beside her on the right seemed to be struggling with the lesson and Yui caught her mouth opening into a yawn at least three times. Two other students caught her attention as well, the girl that sat in front of the brunette girl and the boy behind her who surprised her.

He was the boy she had seen earlier that day with the bike. There no way she would forget those bright orange headphones around his neck.

Much like her neighbor, he also seemed to have been struggling to stay conscious throughout the whole class. However when Yui had spared a quick glance over her shoulder, his head was resting on the surface of his desk. Yui was pretty sure if she hadn't been seated in front of him he'd probably get a scolding. The other girl that had her attention was probably the most alert with her back perfectly straight and her eyes focused straight ahead.

Yui sighed before closing her eyes to exhale, almost free....For the first day of school it hadn't been so bad.

Lunch had come and gone with a few curious classmates asking her how the city was compared to their small town. Yui answered each question with a polite smile and nod, that familiar feeling of gnawing at her chest. She was only there for a year...

Shaking her head Yui breathed a sigh of relief as she heard the clamor of the bell ringing as their homeroom teacher loudly scoffed, "That's all for today. Normal lectures will start tomorrow!"

All around her students began to push their chairs into their desk and began to move. Raising her arms up a bit she let out a yawn as she stretched her arms up as well as arching her back a bit to ease some of the ache. The room had become a bit more lively as students began to mill around even with Moroo-King Moron-glaring at them as he began to make his way out the door. Yui sighed before pausing as she heard the chime of the intercom ring out.

"Attention, attention," a woman's voice called out, "All teachers please report immediately to the faulty office for a brief staff meeting. All students must return to their classrooms and are not to leave the school until further notice."

Instantly the room went silent as their homeroom teacher turned to glare at them, "You heard the announcements! Don't go anywhere until you hear otherwise!"  Yui flinched along with a few others as the man stomped out of the classroom and slammed the door closed behind him. "Sheesh," a classmate of hers whispered from the front, "We could hear..."

"It's King Moron what do you expect?" a girl beside the boy huffed as Yui turned her head a bit as she could hear sirens echoing from the distance. A few students rushed up to the windows and peered through the windows. 

Though Yui could only frown as she noticed how the outside was still a bit too foggy for them to see anymore than maybe the courtyard below them. What was the point of trying to peer out if there was no way to clearly see? She turned her attention away before bowing her head a little, if she was stuck in school a bit longer than intended that would mean she couldn't try to stop by a store to get groceries right? She wasn't familiar with the times the stores in the area ran, but she didn't want to try and waste time finding everything in one day.

What if Nanako arrived home already and was waiting all alone for her to come back?

The image of her younger cousin alone in the house made Yui close her eyes and quickly tucked a few loose strands of her silver hair behind her ears as she waited anxiously at her seat. For now she had to stay in the classroom until they were given permission to leave. Hopefully Nanako wasn't waiting for her....

"Hey did you hear?"

Yui's eyes closed as she sighed a bit as the boys by the window seemed to be talking. Usually she would tune such conversations out, but the volume of the one who spoken was a bit too hard to ignore, "I hear that paparazzi's looking all over for that announcer."

"Oh yeah. You mean Mayumi Yamano, right?"

Yui moved her head slightly in the direction of the boys that continued to talk. "I heard some guys spotted her at the shopping district."

The first boy who had spoken up took a quick look at her before leaning forward to whisper something into the ear of his friend. Yui raised an eyebrow at the muffled mutters before his friend jerked back, "Are you serious?!"

"You think I'm joking?" the boy hissed before pointing to the girl that had been seated diagonal from her. The raven haired girl seemed completely off in her own world staring just slightly up towards the ceiling. Yui watched in mild interest as the boy's friend began to make his way over to her, "Uh...H-Hey Yukiko-san," he called out to her with his hand raised up a bit into a wave, "Mind I ask you something?" 

The girl, Yukiko, turned her head to direct her gaze at the boy with her lips parting a bit and blinking a few times as the boy cleared his throat. It was only a few minutes before he spoke up again, "Is it true that announcer's staying at your family's inn?"

The girl's eyes narrowed and Yui flinched at the clipped answer she delivered, "I can't discuss such things."

"Oh uh," the boy laughed nervously before backing away, "Guess not."

Yui watched as Yukiko only nodded before looking away. At this point the boy was making a hasty dash back to his friends. The shorted haired brunette girl beside her got up and walked over to Yukiko's desk.

"Sheesh, how much longer is this gonna take?" Yukiko seemed to relax upon the other girl's appearance and Yui glanced away before pulling out a piece of paper. Her fingers pressing and folding the paper as she continued to listen to the two girls.

"There's no telling," Yukiko told her friend as the brunette sighed, "I shoulda left before the announcement came on. Oh, didja try and do that thing I told you the other day? You know, that thing about rainy nights?"

"Oh...Oh no, no yet. Sorry," Yui heard Yukiko answer as she slid her right index finger along the edge of paper as Yukiko's friend let out a bit of a chuckle, "Ah, that's okay. It's just, I heard a guy in the class next door yell something like, 'My soul mate is Yamano, the announcer'!"

By then Yui's mind was focused on her paper crane instead of the classmate's conversation. It sounded like some weird rumor her old classmates in the city would giggle over too. Yui's eyes narrowed as she watched the paper rip from after she tried to fold upward. Sighing Yui shoved the ruined attempt into her bag and tried to get another paper before the intercom's chime rang out again.

"Attention, all students. There has been an incident inside the school district. Police officers have been dispatched around the School Zone. Please stay calm and contact your parents or guardians as soon as possible, and quickly leave the school grounds. Do not disturb the police officers. Head directly home."

"Incident?!"

Yui nearly jumped out of her chair as the classroom buzzed up with life again and Yui blinked as her new classmates chatted about. A part of her felt a little distraught at such a reaction, was something like an incident something that should be so chatty about?

Her hand digs deeper into her bag until she finds her phone, pulling it out she quickly presses down her uncle's number onto the keypad. Pressing the phone against her ear she bit her bottom lip as the line continued to ring until she heard the automated voice mail. "Uncle Dojima, it's Yui," she whispered as she began to push her things into her bag, "There's been something going on by the school, but I'm on my way home...Okay, goodbye."

Hopefully he'll notice the miss call...

Gathering the last of her things she starts to stand up only to flinch as she feels a hand tap her on the shoulder, "Hey new girl, are you heading home by yourself?"

Yui glances over her shoulder to see the girl with short brunette hair smiling up at her along with the raven haired girl, Yukiko, standing a bit away from them.

"Why don't you come with us? We oughta stay close by each other right?"

"Um..." Yui's voice cracks a bit and she's quick to clear her throat as she nods, "Sure. Thank you."

"That's great! Oh, nearly forgot," the girl pointed to herself as her smile grew, "I'm Chie Satonaka. I sit next to you, remember?"

"Of course," Yui adjusts the hold of her bag as she pushes her chair in, "You saved me earlier today too...Thanks for that." Chie lets out a giggle before lightly nudging her arm with an elbow, "Aw! It was nothing!" Chie turns and motions of her friend to come over, "This is my friend, Yukiko Amagi."

Yui smiles towards the other girl before bowing to her, "Yui Narukami...Pleasure."

"It's nice to meet you Narukami-chan," Yukiko smiled back at her followed by a bow of her own, "I'm so sorry that this is so sudden." Chie clears her throat loudly before walking a bit close to her friend and nudging her playfully, "H-Hey now! Come on, don't apologize like that Yukiko. It makes me look like I got no upbringing!"

Yui's smiles remains as she follows after the two, taking in how Chie's nudging against Yukiko was playful as her friend only smiled. It was quite amusing and very sweet actually at how close they were.

"Say, you're pretty tall," Chie remarked as they stepped through the door, "How tall are you Naru-"

"Hey! Chie! What's up?!"

The three turned to see a boy with orange headphones hurry after them with a nervous smile. Yui blinked as she recognized the boy before glancing between him and Chie. For someone who had called out to Chie, the boy looked like he rather not be talking to her. His eyes kept darting around and he was fidgeting as he stood in place in front of the brunette.

"So uh," the boy pulled out a DVD case out of his bag before taking a step forward, "This was really...Um...Awesome! Like the way they moved was just amazing to see and...Yeah." His fingers were gripping the DVD quite hard as he stood before them. Yui could see him shaking a bit as he kept holding it to his chest.

Her eyes darted between the boy and to Chie before he inhaled loudly.

"And...I'm really sorry! It was an accident! Please just have mercy until my next paycheck!"

The DVD case was shoved towards Chie, her hands barely catching it before the boy started to run away from them. Yui and Yukiko tensed up immediately as Chie's leg went right in front of him before he even got through the doorway. He stumbled as Chie again lifted her leg this time to give a shift kick right into his lower stomach.

Yui's lips pulled back as she gritted her teeth as the boy nearly crumpled to the floor with a loud whine. That...Really had to hurt.

"What the?! It's completely cracked you tool!"

Chie's voice made her tear her attention away from the boy and she peered over the girl's shoulder to look into the case. The disc was indeed cracked, spiderweb cracks on its shiny surface. Yukiko let out a gasp as Chie angrily stomped her foot, "NOOO!!! MY TRAIL OF THE DRAGON!"

"I...Think mine's cracked too..C-Critical hit to the nads..."

The boy lets out another groan and slowly sunk to the ground, his hands pressing against his crotch as he kept his head down. "Are...Are you alright?" Yukiko asked as Yui also looked on with worry, "Yes...Are you okay?"

"Ugh, he's fine!" Chie's light scoff and huff made both girls turn away, "Let's ditch him and go home already!" The short-haired girl let out another huff and turned on her heel before storming out of the classroom with her friend right behind.

Yui hesitated a moment, glancing towards her classmates before looking back to the boy. Sympathy flashed in her eyes as he continued to groan on the ground.

It wasn't possible for her to do anything though. Maybe it was best to leave him be?

She quickly bowed to him before following after the two other girls.

* * *

"So you're just here for a year huh?" Chie mused as the girls began to leave the building, "And it's only because of your parents' work...I was hoping for something juicier than that."

A strained chuckle came out of Yui's mouth as she walked besides Yukiko who frowned at her friend's words, "Chie don't be rude." The raven haired girl smiled up towards Yui before shaking her head, "Don't worry about Chie...She's a bit curious for her own good."

"Oh come on it's not like you weren't curious either," Chie lightly teased and nudged Yukiko a bit as Yui shook her head.

"Oh no it's fine," she assured them not missing the way Chie gave Yukiko a wink as her friend sighed, "I'm used to people just speaking about my conditions for transferring quite often. It's...Pretty much something I'm used to."

"What do your parents do for a living anyway?" Chie asked as Yui adjusted the hold on her bag, "You're not like...Rich or anything are you?"

"Ah no no!" Yui laughed, "They're just normal office workers, though they're heads in both their departments. They often get called to do a lot of presentations and meetings with clients. Travelling around is...One of them so it's normal for us to move. This is the first time they let me live away from them and let me stay with a relative." Chie nodded before pausing as she tried to think of another question to ask her.

The silver haired girl took a brief moment to study Chie and Yukiko, specifically their jackets.

The green and yellow jacket over Chie's uniform was bright yet matched quite well to the girl's appearance. Yukiko's bright red cardigan fit her slim frame and Yui lightly tugged at the sleeves of her own uniform.

"Doesn't the school staff say anything about your uniforms?"

The question seemed to startle Chie out of her thoughts while Yukiko came to a halt before looking down at her cardigan. The brunette looked down at her jacket before letting out a scoff, "Nah! Not at all!" she shrugged, "As long as you have the actually uniform as a whole underneath there's really nothing wrong. A lot of the students here try to do something different to their uniforms anyway." Yukiko nodded and tugged on the sleeve of her cardigan, "I don't mind that I get to wear my red cardigan so often. Chie said red looked great on me and well, it keeps me warm too!"

The raven haired girl gave Yui a smile before speaking up again, "Didn't they let you do that in your old school?"

"No," Yui shook her head as they began to walk again coming a bit closer to the school gate, "The schools I went to were...Strict. Uniforms have to fit all regulations and no one didn't do anything to differentiate. Even a simple colored jacket could get you in trouble if it didn't fit up to code." She tugged on her sleeve again with a frown, "Maybe...I should try to do something different while I'm here. It could be my only chance perhaps."

"Oh yeah definitely!" Chie eagerly agreed, "You should try doing something to your hair? Like change it up in some other style everyday maybe. We could go shopping and-" 

"You're...You're Yuki right?"

The three girls immediately came to a halt, Yui nearly jumping up as they heard a voice speak up behind them just as they walked by the gate. Turning they saw a boy standing with his head looking down to the ground.

He wore a completely different uniform than the boy uniform Yui had seen from their high school. He wore plain black pants paired with a black blazer with a red and green checkered shield on his left breast pocket. A matching green tie completed the uniform all together and Yui frowned as the boy took a step towards them again, still far from them yet close enough that made all of them shift a bit. He still didn't lift his head and he opened his mouth again, "You're Yuki right? You...You want to go hang out somewhere?"

Yuki?

Chie and Yui immediately turned towards Yukiko whose frown only grew the longer the boy stood in front of them, "What...Um, w-who are you?"

The boy finally lifted his head up and Yui forced herself not to gulp loudly as she noticed his eyes.

Oddly enough his pupil wasn't quite clear and although Yui and Chie were on either side of Yukiko, his focus was zeroed in on the raven haired girl who edged a little closer to Chie. His mouth was also quite prominent...And Yui had to avert her eyes away as the image of a fish came to mind.

"What's up with him? What's school is he from?"

Two boys had stopped right by the gate, staring at them as the boy continued to stare at Yukiko.

"Never mind that," the second boy snickered a bit, "He's going for Yukiko-san? Man, you'd think he'd at least wait until she was alone to make his move..."

His friend laughed, "I bet you a can of TaP he gets knocked out." Yui twitched a bit and for a moment she wanted to flag both boys over to get help, but they were already moving away from the gate. "No bet!" she could still hear one of them as they disappeared from view, "Haven't you heard how difficult the Amagi Challenge is?"

Amagi Challenge?

Yui shook her head, later on she would ask, but for now she needed to pay attention to Yukiko and the boy. Chie at this point had her hand holding her friend's and was slowly shifting a bit as if to shield her away from the boy. The boy's face was slowly turning pink and he spoke again, "So...A-Are you coming or not?!"

Yui immediately tensed up as Chie's eyes narrowed, his tone wasn't at all polite...It was demanding and Yui could feel her teeth grit a little bit as Yukiko took a step back until Chie was in front of her. The boy saw this and took a step forward only to stop as Yukiko's voice rose up, "I...I'm not going...I'm not going anywhere with you." Yui bit her lower lip as she noticed the boy's face turned red...From embarrassment or anger, she wasn't sure.

He was not pleased by her answer.

"You listen-"

Chie had shoved Yukiko behind her completely as Yui finally stepped up until she was besides the brunette girl, her eyes narrowed as the boy immediately took a step back. Yui was the tallest of the three of them and it looked like she had a bit of height compared to the boy. She only kept an even stare at the boy as Chie began to slowly raise her hands up into fists. The boy looked back and forth between them before angrily stomping his foot.

"SCREW YOU!"

Yui turned her body a bit to at least block Yukiko from view as the boy dashed down the street before giving her a glare. She only frowned and didn't flinch as she could hear him whisper 'bitch' under his breath.

She and Chie stayed in their positions for a few more minutes until his form was far enough and released a sigh of relief once he turned a corner.

"What...What on earth did he want from me...?"

Both of them turned to look at Yukiko as she nervously clasped and unclasped her hands with a frown, "I didn't even know him and he asked me that...What on earth did he want?"

"Ah...Yukiko," Chie sighed as she lightly hit her face with her hand, "What did he want? Yukiko it's obvious, he was trying to ask you out on a date!"

"In a rather creepy way," Yui muttered as Yukiko blinked before tilting her head, "...Wait. Huh? Really?"

Chie let out another sigh and her body leaned back before she dropped her hand to her side, "You really had no clue? Sheesh...But then again, that was way over the top. It was creepy how he just called you 'Yuki' all of a sudden and that whole...Staring thing?"

Yui glanced in the direction the boy went off in before opening her mouth, only to shut it as the sound of rickety metal came towards them.

The boy with headphones slowly approached them and greeted them with a wave, "Yo, Yukiko-san. Turned down another lovelorn fool huh? Man you're cruel...You got me the same way last year." Yukiko blinked again before tilting her head to the side a bit, "I don't recall doing that."

Instantly the boy's whole body straightened up and Yui wondered if he was really quick to recover from his earlier injury with how much energy he was displaying. "Whoa you serious?!" he grinned, "So then, you wanna hang out sometime!"

"I'd...Rather not."

The answer was so immediate and Yukiko's whole facial expression changed as she averted her eyes away from the boy. Her lips were pulled down into a frown again and she furrowed her brows as well that it made Chie snicker as she looked at her friend's face. Yui could only shrug before watching as the boy let out a sigh and hung his body over his bike with a frown, "Well dang. That'll teach me to get my hopes up..."

He sighed again before swinging one of his legs over his bike before turning to them, "Anyways, you  two better not pick on the transfer student too much. Don't wanna scare her too badly now do ya?" Yui titled her head in confusion at his words only to receive a shrug from him before he quickly pedaled away. Chie let out huff before cupping her hands around her mouth, "We're just curious is all!"

Yui felt a light tug on her sleeve and she looked to see Yukiko giving her a shy smile, "I'm...Very sorry for dragging you into this...And on your first day too."

Her own lips pulled up into a smile and she shook her head, "Oh no, it's fine. This has to be the most interesting first day for me actually. Nothing wrong with that. Besides I'm glad you're alright. Even if the situation was just some boy trying to ask you out...It was oddly intense." Yukiko only sighed, "Oh...I'm really sorry you had to see that spectacle."

"Again, no problems at all," Yui assured her as Chie let out a loud gulp which caught her attention.

The area around the school gate was oddly...More populated than it had been a few minutes ago. A few students in groups of three or four lingering in place by the gate or slowly walking by them with confused looks.

"C-C'mon, let's go!" Chie exclaimed and took hold of Yukiko's hand, "Everyone's staring now!"


End file.
